Clipperblog is tanned, rested and ready from its summer break. It has finally paid its season ticket balance in full (and wishes to thank DTS for not raising the rent) and is completely perplexed to find that Bonzi Wells is still homeless and that the Clippers have signed a deal with MLB's Washington Nationals whereby Corey Maggette will be coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter primarily to face left-handed pitching and Alfonso Soriano will be backing up Cat Mobley. And after spending a year in the sports diaspora working kids' birthday parties, former Expo/National mascot Youpi! will roam the sidelines at Staples.

Not one day after the World Championships, I got three emails from friends back east asking me what the story was with Sofoklis Schortsanitis, the center on the Greek National Team. Was he going to cross the pond and join the team that drafted him 34th overall in the 2003 NBA draft?

It's an interesting proposition and one that exemplifies just how far international players have come in less than a decade. Not more than six or seven years ago, if you suggested that your team corral a big lumpy center from overseas, you'd elicit snickers for evoking the names of Zan Tabak and Dragan Tarlac. But these days, if a guy from overseas puts up 14 points in 17 minutes in international competition, we're ready to slide him 160,000 OneWorld points to get him in an NBA uniform. And why not? Homegrown NBA talent has proven itself incapable of guarding agile big men (see Dirk, Pau, et al).

Personally, the emergence of Schortsanitis (can we hold off on the "Baby Shaq" sobriquet for a little while longer, please? Because I don't think Glen Davis has returned the placard yet and, besides, it goes to Megan Hausmann next), if nothing else provides the Clippers with a nice insurance policy if (when) Chris Kaman bolts after the season for a boffo contract elsewhere. With Livingston up next for an extension, Baylor will be reluctant to empty the coffers for Chris - particularly if he needs to come up with mid-seven figures to retain his Head Coach or hire another one.

So why not go Billy Beane by cycling out your center for a younger one at 1/20th the price? I'm not suggesting that the Clippers will be a better team with Sofoklis Schortsanitis over Chris Kaman - because that's an absurd assumption right now - but how many teams in the NBA could replace a top 10 center with a young European player who has been seasoned with four years of top-notch international competition?

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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Comments

In an era where Sam Dalembert signs for 6/$63M even Jerome James commands the mid-level, it is scary to think what Kaman will be offered. This despite the fact that the starting centers in last year's Western Conference finals were Boris Diaw and DeSagana Diop, and the starting center for Team USA in Japan was one Elton Brand. I can't see paying Kaman 7 figures per, assuming My Big Fat Greek Center (MBFGC) can be bought out of his Olympiakos contract for a reasonable sum. It hurts me - I like Kaman, and I would like to keep him. But not at any cost, and certainly not at the expense of keeping Livingston.

Right on. And this is why I love a soft cap -- it requires teams to make value-minded decisions. In MLB, a team can give any player any amount, irrepsective of what they're worth. And in the NFL, you have to let players fully worth the money walk because the cap is so draconian.

But in the NBA, the cap is reasonable. It's flexible enough to allow teams to retain homegrown talent if they want to, but punishes them if they overpay for it.

"Sofoklis Schortsianitis resigned with the Reds for multiple years, but preserved his chances to play for the Clippers in the future by insisting on a $500,000 NBA buyout. He signed a four year extension, and will be paid 500,000 Euro this season."

His buyout shouldn't be a problem. I've been calling for the team to replace Kaman with a younger/cheaper option for awhile now, they can do it with a combination of EB, Sofo, Paul Davis and a center out of the 07 draft if need be. Kaman is a bloated contract waiting to happen, let that be someone else's problem.

hold on folks...how you going to dog on our own center..the big fella, #35, the guy is in the top 5 of the entire league for centers, and you want him to just walk away...pay the young fella his well deserved money, and let him be one of the three or four pillars we build this playoff contending team from....you want to keep maggette....or cat...give me a break..and davis, please the rookie will be lucky to last the entire season with the clippers..he cant run, he cant shoot, he shows the desire of a slug...we got a star in the making in kaman...quality nba center...not a lockerroom problem..not a community headache...a simple person who loves to play basketball and hang out..pay the kid his money and watch him lead you to the finals....

It's just baby steps... And Kevin's comments about the soft cap are spot on. Let me repeat... I LOVE KAMAN. He is the BEST young, American true center. (Qualifiers conveninently elimnating Shaq and Yao and Howard and Amare.) But it's really, really hard to imagine DTS getting anywhere near the luxury tax, which is where they'll be with Kaman AND Livingston re-signed to big $. Now, if you want to add a piece, what do you do? In the long term, you may have to let Kaman go... and the direction the NBA is going, the true center is becoming an anachronism anyway.

I should probably clarify. Kaman is an invaluable asset to the team. I get that. My comment isn't an indictment of him so much as acceptance that, like it or not, the Clips have two choices next offseason: (1) Overpay for Kaman and, in the process, paralyze themselves for seven years -- albeit years that they'll have one of the more competent low-post offensive players in the Conference. (2) Let Kaman walk when someone offers him 6 years/$65M.

So, given this context, I'm going to assume that Baylor will opt for the latter. And given that assumption, what do the Clips do?

Don't need a "true center"??? What??? You need someone who can anchor the defense, score on offense, and neutralize as much as possible the opposing team's big guys.

Kaman is a great inside player. I don't even think he's a true center, so that comment isn't really applicable. He plays both ends of the floor, is athletic, and unselfish. Forget calling him a true center, not a true center, he can play. Period.

Rudy Gay certainly has a lot of upside, but the Memphis trade seems crazy to me. Shane Battier (a six pick) has done nothing but play hard and contribute every night for four years and now he's being traded for a number eight pick?! Okay, I'm Duke biased, but still.

04/11/08 18:27:36

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